User:Kari.Harper/Incarceration in the United States/KNNorm Peer Review

Peer review

Complete your peer review exercise below, providing as much constructive criticism as possible. The more detailed suggestions you provide, the more useful it will be to your classmate. Make sure you consider each of the following aspects:

Lead

Guiding questions:

Has the Lead been updated to reflect the new content added by your peer?
Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Content

Guiding questions:

Is the content added relevant to the topic?
Is the content added up-to-date?
Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

Tone and Balance

Guiding questions:

Is the content added neutral?
Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
Does the content added attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Sources and References

Guiding questions:

Is all new content backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
Does the content accurately reflect what the cited sources say? (You'll need to refer to the sources to check this.)
Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
Are the sources current?
Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
Are there better sources available, such as peer-reviewed articles in place of news coverage or random websites? (You may need to do some digging to answer this.)
Check a few links. Do they work?

Organization

Guiding questions:

Is the content added well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
Does the content added have any grammatical or spelling errors?
Is the content added well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Images and Media

Guiding questions: If your peer added images or media

Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
Are images well-captioned?
Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

For New Articles Only

If the draft you're reviewing is for a new article, consider the following in addition to the above.

Does the article meet Wikipedia's Notability requirements - i.e. Is the article supported by 2-3 reliable secondary sources independent of the subject?
How exhaustive is the list of sources? Does it accurately represent all available literature on the subject?
Does the article follow the patterns of other similar articles - i.e. contain any necessary infoboxes, section headings, and any other features contained within similar articles?
Does the article link to other articles so it is more discoverable?

Overall impressions

Guiding questions:

Has the content added improved the overall quality of the article - i.e. Is the article more complete?
What are the strengths of the content added?
How can the content added be improved?

Examples of good feedback

A good article evaluation can take a number of forms. The most essential things are to clearly identify the biggest shortcomings, and provide specific guidance on how the article can be improved.

Peer review of "Homemaking"
Peer review of this article about a famous painting

Additional Resources

Check out the Editing Wikipedia PDF for general editing tips and suggestions.

General info[edit]

Whose work are you reviewing?

Kari.Harper - Kari

Link to draft you're reviewing
User:Kari.Harper/Incarceration in the United States
Link to the current version of the article (if it exists)
Incarceration in the United States

Evaluate the drafted changes[edit]

Kari, this is an incredible topic to take on and I think you chose a really important section to update. As I was reading the original article I was struck by the section that states: "The incarceration of youths has been linked to the effects of family and neighborhood influences. One study found that the "behaviors of family members and neighborhood peers appear to substantially affect the behavior and outcomes of disadvantaged youths."

The article makes it seem like only the people/peers in a neighborhood, and their actions, are responsible for the incarceration of youths from the same neighborhood. Updating that section to make sure it's clear that other external factors/policies contribute just as much (if not more) fills a huge gap. You mentioned the most important one that I know of, policing. You also mentioned different treatment in schools, zero tolerance policies, and adultification which are equally important! I think adding these factors goes a long way towards correcting the two dimensional image the current article paints of these neighborhoods. Without your updates I think someone reading this article would leave with reinforced stereotypes and dangerous, misleading ideas about the causes of youth incarceration.

My mind goes to including even broader influences, like systemic racism, for-profit prisons, red zoning, and other far reaching government policies that are the true causes. However, I think your approach is more manageable for the scope of the assignment and is probably more in line with Wikipedia guidelines. Some of the intersectional factors we discussed in class may be too complex for what we're trying to do with these Wikipedia updates. I think you really did a good job of taking a huge topic and honing in on irrefutable ways to make this article better.